


mermaid man and barnacle boy

by assbele



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Gen, I CAN'T NAME MY FICS SERIOUSLY PLS SEND HELP, even if they can't communicate they still have fun exploring ruins together ok, mermaid au, mikleo is a mermaid who likes exploring shipwreck ruins, sorey is a marine archaeologist who likes exploring shipwreck ruins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 16:21:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8109238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/assbele/pseuds/assbele
Summary: From the moment he came into the world, he was told never to approach anything human.	He was never to go near a human wreck, or even gaze upon a human settlement from afar. It was far too dangerous, he was taught from a young age, to ever come near a human. They were greedy, selfish monsters, who would kill him instantly, or capture him in a net and study him, or keep him hostage. Humans were only bad news, and he was to keep away from anything remotely human.	The only problem was, Mikleo was an oddity among his people. He was curious about humans. Painfully curious.





	

From the moment he came into the world, he was told never to approach anything human.

                 He was never to go near a human wreck, or even gaze upon a human settlement from afar. It was far too dangerous, he was taught from a young age, to ever come near a human. They were greedy, selfish monsters, who would kill him instantly, or capture him in a net and study him, or keep him hostage. Humans were only bad news, and he was to keep away from anything remotely human.

                 The only problem was, Mikleo was an oddity among his people. He was curious about humans. _Painfully_ curious.

                 Sure, his people had a lot of terrifying stories and awful mental images of what a human might look like - but Mikleo was more optimistic about them. It could have been the couple times he'd snuck away to watch humans on the shore, or the one time when he was young and the current swept him out into a human wreck site--

                 Well, to put it mildly, he'd spent his life breaking rules in order to learn more about humans.

                 Today, like most days, Mikleo sneaks away. The skies are clear and dappled pools of light sway and flicker along the sand, eclipsed only by his shadow as he moves by. As he swims further out eventually his shadow is eclipsed by an even greater shadow, and he stops to look up in awe. No matter how many times he comes, human ruins take his breath away. This is the most intact ship he has ever found; it's only broken in two pieces, and if he's careful he can still swim the same corridors that humans probably used to walk in. It's absolutely astounding.

                 He swims upward to float above the wreck, and he gazes out into the graveyard. There are several more ships of different sizes and materials scattered all about the seabed, small bits and pieces of them strewn along the sand. He descends towards half a ship, still visibly white beneath a patchy blanket of dark green algae, and circles around the outside once, eyes focused down into the sand. The currents move things out and about, so every day he checks to see if anything has fallen out from the ship. Today is lucky; there's something shining in the sand, and he reaches with delicate, pale fingers and extracts it from its resting place, inspecting it closely. It's hard and round, something he's found many similar things to. This one is small; he figures he can take it back with him without too much suspicion.

                 He's moving to enter a large hole in the side when a shadow passes over him; he sucks in a breath, first believing it to be a shark - a glance upward tells him it's the furthest thing from it - and he darts into the interior of the ship, pressing himself against the inner wall. It's a ship - a _human ship_ , probably carrying humans, and he can't help but mock himself that his first instinct was to panic and hide.

                 _Old habits die hard, I guess._

                 He figures it'll pass by soon, so he decides to explore the inside of the ship in the meantime. He runs a hand along the inside of the ship, feeling the alien surfaces with subdued fascination. The world of humans is a little scary, he supposes, being so different from his own - and it's true that he really has no idea what humans might do to him if they ever found him. Or if they ever came after his people. He looks down at his tail, long and elegant and shimmering with blue scales, and recalls a story Gramps had once told him about their people being killed by a human wanting even just one scale. If he thinks about it for a long time, it's kind of scary. He stops, though, as he finds a long, hard, golden object on the floor, and picks it up with a small smile on his face. From where he's holding it, the object goes up and is forked into three sections, long and cylindrical, and he has no idea what it could possibly be. He knocks it gently and it makes a strange whooping sound that echoes in the water. A lot of human artifacts are made of this material, like the small round thing he picked up earlier - it's obviously something humans have that his people don't understand, and Mikleo absentmindedly wonders how many of these things could be used against them. He wonders when he began getting so cautious. Maybe he's getting old.

                 There's a creaking sound behind him, and he turns around, dropping the object in surprise. It flutters to the floor - but it's silent, again, and he exhales slowly, willing his heart to stop pounding so fast. He was feeling awfully jumpy - seeing the human ship go by overhead must've unnerved him a lot more than he realized. He doesn't bother to pick up the object before he decides to head home, feeling nervous about the situation. He can't have fun exploring when he's diving for cover from every shadow around each corner.

                 As he exits from the hole he entered from, though, he freezes immediately. The shadow is still overhead. It hasn't moved at all. Swallowing hard, he looks up to see the dark silhouette of it on the surface - for all he knows, they could have seen him already - and he swallows nervously again and tears his gaze from the ship overhead to dart back into the cover of the wrecked ship behind him. It isn't safe to leave yet, even if he wants to. The longer he stays there, the more desperately he wants to leave.

                 Anxiously fingering the small, round object he found earlier, he stays and waits, watching the shadowed sand outside. How long would that ship be there? What did the humans want? Why--

                 For the second time, he freezes in fear. Right in front of him, despite all the strange objects attached to it, is without a doubt... a human. Mikleo stares in horror, unable to will himself to flee. He's always wanted to see one up this close, and finally he has the chance - but this isn't how it was supposed to go, and suddenly he just feels very _afraid_ and is acutely aware that, if this human kills him or takes him away, no one would ever know what happened to him. He stares at the human with fright, waiting for the next move - but none ever comes. The human simply stares back, eyes wide and round almost like the object Mikleo grips tightly in his fist, and neither makes a move. When Mikleo realizes he can escape, at this point he takes it, but miscalculates - he shoots away so quickly he misses the opening and smacks his head on the side of the ship, tumbling in the water for a moment as the dizzying pain reaches his senses. The moment he regains even half his sense he swims away as quickly, quickly as he can or even knew was possible for him. It doesn't matter where he goes at the moment - just that he gets _away._               

* * *

 

                It's not until later that Mikleo realizes it's gone - his circlet, the one he wears around his head every day, passed down to him from his mother, whom he's never known. It feels like a piece of him is missing, and between that and the horrible pounding in his head from where it connected with the side of the ship, he feels miserable.

                 And yet, when the next day comes, he's sneaking out yet again to go back to the ship graveyard.

                 He'd originally wanted to swear off it for a while, but what would he tell Gramps if he was asked about his precious circlet? That he lost it? That he must have knocked it off his head while exploring forbidden territory, and how he accidentally came face-to-face with a human? That would never do - pounding head or no, he had to go out and at least look for it anyway. He didn't feel as though there would be much danger of seeing the human again - after all, most ships that came by never passed twice, since all the human activity was along the shore or much, much further down at the area where all their ships went. Even if Mikleo had never seen a human come into the water that far out at sea... it didn't seem like it would happen again, anyway.

                 Still, he's cautious when approaching, and swims low to the sand as he searches around. He is becoming more and more fearful the current may have carried it off; but on the other hand, it doesn't seem like it could have gone too far. He's positive he must've knocked it off when he hit his head. It doesn't seem like it could have come off at any other time. He's just beginning to lose hope when he pauses, seeing a glint out of the corner of his eye, and his heart leaps as he quickly moves towards it. Only he pauses almost immediately after, locked into place, finding himself again face-to-face with a human. The human has his circlet in its hands, and Mikleo stares after it in despair.

                 The last thing he expects is for the human to hold its arms out, circlet resting in the palms of the human's hands. Mikleo frowns, heart pounding in fear - he watches the human carefully, trying to see what sort of expression is worn under the strange mask said human is wearing. Is it some sort of trap? It's been made obvious from Mikleo's years of explorations that humans love things that shine - so it would have made sense for the human to keep what it found. Why else would it offer it so openly to Mikleo unless it were a trap?

                 Silvery bubbles emerge from the human, and Mikleo takes a moment to look at all the strange equipment. What catches his attention most is... the lack of a tail. He's seen humans from very, very far away, but this is a lot more... weird, up close. Other than that, though, the human doesn't seem... horribly threatening. Still, Mikleo is on edge, although he begins to regard them at least as another being he is trying to share an understanding with. The human still hasn't made any moves, and Mikleo is intrigued by that. This person obviously has a lot of patience if they are still waiting to trap him - the human could have easily used force on him by now. Somehow, this strengthens Mikleo's resolve, and he carefully approaches, not breaking eye contact with the human as he reaches out and carefully takes back his circlet, quickly snapping his arms back to himself the minute it's in his hands, and he moves away immediately. The human lowers their arms slowly, and as Mikleo quickly swims away, he swears he can feel the human's eyes boring into him.

* * *

 

                 Mikleo had told himself repeatedly the day before that he was not to go back, not for a very long time. And yet, somehow, the encounter from yesterday sticks in his head and repeats itself over and over. It seems to him that the human actually really hadn't meant harm, and that is more interesting to Mikleo than any of the hundreds of interesting things he's found over the course of his life at the shipwrecks.

                 So, against his better judgment, he goes back for the third day in a row.

                 This time as he approaches he can see the shadow of the human's ship enveloping the sand, and he knows that once again the human will probably be down there somewhere. Today, though, he is on a different mission - Mikleo would be the observer, today, and this time the human would be the one with the uncomfortable feeling of eyes boring into their back.

                 Peering over the ledge of a very old, creaky brown ship, Mikleo watches as the human clumsily swims around the algae-covered white ship. It seemed as though they are... exploring? Mikleo squints and leans forward. He can see the strange golden, cylindrical object he'd found before in the human's hands, who is now carefully placing it inside of a tan bag. Mikleo watches, wide-eyed. It seems unlikely, but he has to ask himself: is the human interested in these kinds of ruins, too? His curiosity burns inside of him, but he has to summon his greatest will to not move from where he is watching. He sees the human emerge multiple times with different sorts of objects, and eventually, not even Mikleo can deny it - either the human is trying to loot the old ship, or they are studying it. Studying it, just like Mikleo does, except Mikleo can't take back any of the objects for fear he'll be found out - but if this is a human, surely a human can't get in trouble for having human possessions?

                 His excitement gets the best of him and he swims forward carefully, only regretting his choice once the human looks up, surprised, and they lock eyes once more. At this point Mikleo isn't even sure why he's taken the risk of approaching - but now that he's here, he's wondering what he's supposed to do next.

                 It seems the human comes to an answer, first, and slowly moves a hand to their head, tapping at their forehead. Mikleo frowns. Is that human communication? Mikleo copies, then, still confused, and watches the human for a response, only looking away for a moment as he tracks some of the bubbles up above the human's head.

                 The human shakes their head and taps their forehead again, then gestures towards Mikleo. Mikleo taps his forehead again, still not understanding what this human is trying to convey - only this time he accidentally taps the cut on his temple where he hit it against the ship the other day, and winces. The human flinches and moves forward, two arms extended, and Mikleo jerks back - the human drops their arms immediately, and though Mikleo is still tense, he begins to understand.

                 The human can probably see the cut. Maybe they're asking if he's doing alright?

                 Mikleo frowns. Again, that seems unlikely, but it does feel like the human maybe is concerned for him - they aren't making motions anymore, so it's as good a guess as any to assume that's what the human was after - so Mikleo nods, inwardly wishing it would stop being so sore soon.

                 This seems to satisfy the human, who after a prolonged moment of eye contact, appears to go back to what they were doing before, bag left behind in the sand. They begin to swim very clumsily back into the wreck, and a minute or two after the human vanishes inside, for reasons Mikleo can't even explain to himself, he follows.

                 It seems a lot smaller inside with someone there besides himself, but the adrenaline of being inside this old wreckage doubles itself by the mere knowledge that he's actually sharing in it with someone else - and a _human_ , no less. They don't seem to be paying him mind; the human is shining a light into the corner of the room, where some sort of platter lays prone on the floor. Mikleo approaches, curiously, and watches over the human's shoulder as they pick it up and examine it. He is sure he's seen one just like that, actually... and if he remembers correctly, it's actually in this ship.

                 As he moves upwards to swim through a hole in the ceiling, he catches the surprised look of the human out of the corner of his eye. The room he is thinking of is above that one and down a corridor to the right - the ground is green, and atop a brown square object... yes! There it is! Grabbing the platter, Mikleo swims back down and stops beside the human, holding it out. He isn't sure what he expects from this interaction, except to convey that if said human is exploring, that Mikleo himself is also interested in exploring. In a way, it works. The human's mouth falls open and the black piece that had been over it floats up among the bubbles that end up being released - Mikleo watches with furrowed brows as the human then cringes, reaching desperately for the black thing, and then takes a moment steeling themself. Humans... don't have gills, do they? Is that how the human stayed down here so long? Mikleo has kind of been wondering, but it makes sense now. Once it seems like the human is over it, Mikleo holds out the platter, and the human takes it carefully, nodding his head down as he does so.

                 Is that some... human sign of submission? Mikleo hesitantly nods his head down in reciprocation as he watches the human compare the two side by side. They are, in fact, identical, though the one the human had found originally has a deep gash across the center of it. Mikleo reaches a finger to point this out, tracing the cut in the strange material, and the human looks over at him. When Mikleo realizes, he looks back, and they lock eyes, again, this time closer to each other than they have been before. He isn't afraid this time. In fact, save for the lack of a tail, the human really looks pretty normal. Now that he isn't panicking, he can make out features - green eyes, brown hair, and a little round nose. He looks happy. Really happy. Mikleo can't help it - he smiles back, albeit a small one.

                 Maybe humans really aren't so bad after all.

* * *

 

                They're exploring the interior of the giant halved ship one day when the human bumps into a large brown object, and bits of it break off, spilling their contents onto the floor. Contained inside one of them is a bag filled with those small, hard, round objects, like the kind Mikleo sometimes keeps. It seems like the human knows what they are, though - they carefully take the bag and put all the small objects back inside. Mikleo watches with fascination as he gets an idea.

                The next day, he brings his small, meager collection he keeps at home - there's only five of them, since he's always afraid he might be found out if he keeps more than that - but he holds them out in the palm of his hand to the human, who peers over at them with curiosity, picking them up one by one. There's one in particular Mikleo has that he's always wondered about - instead of being round, it has flat edges, but it's still circular, and he's never found another one like it. The thing is, when the human picks this one up, they place it back into Mikleo's hand almost immediately before pointing upwards and swimming up to the surface.

                Mikleo doesn't follow; he watches the human disappear and wonders if they're done for the day, or if they really did not want to see what Mikleo has found after all. That thought is wiped away as the human begins descending again, though, and as they approach, Mikleo sees a different bag in their hand. Once the human touches down, Mikleo swims up cautiously, and the human holds out the bag to him. He takes it and carefully opens it, only to see... at least a dozen other strange objects, with the same flat sides. Mikleo thinks that his is definitely supposed to be part of this set. He's had it for ages, but he would never be able to live with himself if he kept it separate from where it belonged - so he drops it into the bag and hands it back to the human, who looks astonished.

                Mikleo is becoming very fond of this human. Together they are piecing together old human artifacts... one small, round object at a time.

* * *

 

                Despite knowing that he really shouldn't be, Mikleo is more excited every day he goes back. Reliably, every day when the sun is at the highest point in the sky, he finds the human there, though now they are moving on to some of the other ships in the area, and Mikleo often shows them the best ways to get into these ships, and where the less stable parts of them are, and where some of the coolest things he's found are. It seems like the human understands all of it, or at least most of it, so by this point it disproved the many things Mikleo has heard all his life about humans being less intelligent - because, really, he's been thinking more and more that they aren't really all too different. Except that Mikleo still hasn't found a real way to communicate, but... he's working on it, and for now it seems like they have a mutual understanding of sorts. Honestly, he isn't even sure if humans speak the same language.

                Today, though, he'd certainly wished they did.

                Things had started out alright - this time Mikleo and the human are inside of one of Mikleo's favourite ships - a massive, brown one, every room filled with more interesting things than the last. It always makes him feel so small, but so _intrigued_ by all the things he doesn't understand in the world. He wants to learn more, and especially when he's there, he wants to learn even more. The human seems equally excited by the contents of the ship, darting to and fro between the rooms (though no where even near half as how gracefully Mikleo does). It's when they are looking at a rounded, intricate vase that things go wrong. Out of nowhere, the human suddenly stops, looks down, and tugs at the black thing in their mouth frantically - they reach towards their back, trying to do something, but Mikleo doesn't understand what is happening. 

                "H-hey, what's wrong?" Mikleo gasps, watching, not really expecting a reply, but wishing he could get one nonetheless. He doesn't.

                It isn't until the human begins to struggle, accidentally knocking the vase off the shelf it's on, that Mikleo begins to seriously worry. Mikleo plucks it from the water and places it back before staring with a concerned frown. He doesn't know what is happening - but then the human is suddenly leaving, desperately looking for an exit, and something clicks in Mikleo. Something is wrong. As he spins around he watches in horror as the human's movements become slower, and weaker, and Mikleo realizes that he needs to get them to the surface. Immediately.

                Darting forward, he wraps his arms around the human's waist and swims upwards, using full force with his shoulder to punch a hole through the topmost part of the ship. It hurts, but he doesn't have time to find where the real exit is - he knows the ship is weak there, and it is. His shoulder is smarting, now, but it goes nearly unnoticed as Mikleo now swims upward through open water. The human seems barely conscious and is almost totally limp and Mikleo's heart is pounding with worry. He swims as quickly as he can towards the surface, the ship being just nearly overhead, and Mikleo lays aside his fears of only having come up once or twice in his life - someone else is depending on him, now.

                 Their heads break the surface, and there is a shocking gasp in his ear, followed by wet, sputtering coughing. Mikleo makes sure to hold the human above the water, unsure what to do - is there even a way he can help? The human is laying weak against his shoulder, breathing now, though it seems like it might be somewhat difficult. Mikleo stays afloat, frowning, wondering what he should do next, for quite some time. It seems like the human is slowly recovering, though, and he feels almost dizzy with relief. That could have been... really bad. Mikleo sighs to himself in relief.

                 "You..." the human rasps from beside him, and Mikleo's head turns so fast he nearly gets whiplash. "You... saved me?"

                 Mikleo's eyes widen. He opens his mouth to reply, but finds he's so shocked to hear words he actually can comprehend that he can't find words of his own--

                 "You can... understand me?"

                 Mikleo nods, and despite laying there so weakly, the human smiles brighter than anything Mikleo has ever seen - not even the sunlight dancing across clear waters can compare. He feels like he needs to look away, but he can't. Especially not after... well, all that. He can't tear his eyes away.

                 "U-uh... are you... okay?" Mikleo asks, still unsure if humans could understand him--

                 "Mm," comes the reply, and Mikleo's mouth settles on a surprised line. "Just, can you help me onto the ship?"

                 Silently Mikleo nods, and with all the effort he can muster he helps the human climb over the railing of the ship, watching as he disappears from sight and only hearing what he can assume is the thud of him hitting the ground. He waits for a sentence, but none comes, and he starts getting worried.

                 "Hello?" Mikleo calls, anxious for a reply.

                 "Don't worry," the human replies quietly. "I'm just... very tired."

                 Mikleo frowns. He supposes he would be, too. But he's still worried. He waits for another response, but one never comes, so after a while Mikleo quietly sinks his head back down into the water and heads home, feeling a little empty.

* * *

 

                The next day, Mikleo worries when the sun is at its highest point and the human isn't anywhere to be seen. The ship is still overhead, though, and Mikleo fights with himself whether he should go up and check. After all, it really isn't safe - there could be other humans aboard, ones not as nice as the one he's met (and daresay he thinks of as a friend).

                As the day gets later, Mikleo debates his options. Going home feels.. wrong. Besides that, well, there really is no alternative, so he grabs the vase they'd been looking at together the day before and swims up to the surface, feeling more and more nervous the smaller the ship graveyard below him gets. He hesitates at the surface, staring up through the water - this close to the surface, he can see white wisps in the sky, and they remind him of sand kicked up from swimming too close to the bottom. It's a nice sight, though. He's always wondered what they are, ever since his first time coming to the surface.

                 Well, no time like the present, right? He musters up his courage and shivers at the cold air meeting with his face once he finally breaks out from the water. Mikleo is fidgeting with the vase in his hands; he's at the ship, now, but he's not sure what he intended to do. What if another human found him? What would happen to him? Maybe it would be better if--

                 "Oh, hey!"

                 Mikleo jerks and is about to flee as far away from possible until he realizes the cheerful tone greeting him - definitely not the tone Mikleo would expect from someone who is about to net and murder him, anyway - so he turns back and is met with the smiling face of his human friend, leaning over the side of the ship. He isn't wearing any of the things he is usually wearing when Mikleo sees him. He looks much better and healthier than he did the day before when Mikleo saw him last, though.

                 "I, um. Brought you this." Mikleo says, goosebumps forming on his arms from the cold, windy air as he raises them from the water to pass the vase on. As soon as it's in the others' hands, Mikleo tugs his arms back into the water and crosses them over his chest.

                 "Wow..." the human sighs, awe-stuck, lifting the vase above his own head and looking at it, turning it, inspecting it. "This is definitely the real deal... an _actual_ vase from the era of Asgard! I can't believe it!"

                 Mikleo has no idea what that means, but he can't help but smile a little at the enthusiasm anyway.

                 The human's arms lower, thoughts seeming to interrupt themselves, and he frowns for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Are you sure I can take this? After all, it seems like you got there first, and--"

                 Mikleo shakes his head. "Keep it," he says, and he keeps talking as the human's face brightens and he leaves the side of the ship for a moment. "It's not like I can keep any of these things anyway. It seems like you're collecting them for a good reason."

                 The human reappears at the side of the ship and crosses his arms against it, resting his head on top. "You can't? Why not?"

                 Mikleo isn't sure he should share that his kind abhors humans. He doesn't want to ruin... whatever _this_ is. He still can't even believe he's having an actual conversation with a human. He never would have dreamed of it. "I'd get in trouble." He says, plainly, and it's not really a lie, at least. "Besides, human artifacts being left in the hands of a human makes enough sense to me." And it does.

                 The human looks thoughtful for a moment, still not raising his head from where his chin rests on his arms. "I guess that makes sense. Do, um... are you okay? Talking to me like this?"

                 Mikleo isn't sure how to reply to that. "Of course. If I wasn't, I would have left, wouldn't I?"

                 The human laughs gently. "Yeah, I guess that's true!" He says, looking like he's a million miles away. "It's just, well, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you! I thought maybe I was seeing things. A real life mermaid!" He pauses and now lifts his head, looking bashful. "Um, mer...man? Merperson? Is there a term you...?"

                 Mikleo laughs, now, looking at the embarrassed face the human was making. "I'm not familiar with the term, so anything is fine, I suppose."

                 "Oh...okay." The human says, smiling sheepishly before reaching out a hand over the side of the ship. "My name is Sorey, by the way!"

                 Mikleo looks at the extended hand in confusion.

                 "Oh, it's... um, it's called a handshake. It's a human thing, I guess--"

                 Before Sorey can retract his hand, Mikleo reaches out and touches it lightly. Despite the cold air, Sorey's hand is warm.

                 "I'm Mikleo."

                 This could have been the most awkward conversation Mikleo has ever had in his life, except somehow it isn't. As he draws his arm back into the warm water, there's another, different sort of warm feeling within him. It's nice.

                 "I'm a marine archaeologist," Sorey says after a moment, resting his chin on his arms like before. "Basically, I like to go exploring ruins underwater and stuff. I had no idea even people who lived underwater would do that too!" He pauses. "Um, if that is what you..."

                 "It is!" Mikleo exclaims, a bit too excitedly. "I- I mean, exploring."

                 Sorey smiles that wonderful, bright smile, and it's all Mikleo needs to see before launching into an excited rant. "It's just, I've always had to keep it a secret that I'm interested in this sort of thing, but I've done it my entire life and I've never had anyone to share it with. I guess I was hesitant at first, but you have no idea how exciting it was to notice someone else exploring too...! There's so much I want to learn, and you're actually a human so I was thinking you might know what some of those things are, there's dozens of possibilities to learn new--" he cuts himself off, realizing how into this he was getting, and pulls back, embarrassed.

                 "No, no, that's me too!" Sorey says, not even missing a beat the minute Mikleo stops himself. "Somehow you ended up showing me around all these shipwrecks and finding all these nooks and crannies I could've never found on my own! You're really amazing, Mikleo! I've never met a mermaid before, I mean, of course how could I...! But to think you'd be interested in all these old ruins, too, I really can't believe it! This is so cool!"

                 After a moment, they're laughing like children. Mikleo can't believe any of this, honestly. After it dies down, they sit in silence for a few moments. It's a peaceful, extraordinary few moments that seem to stretch on and on. Mikleo tries to process everything that's just happened. The sound of waves gently lapping at the side of the ship fills his ears, and the sun lowering in the sky is something Mikleo has never witnessed above the surface before - the sky was no longer blue, and the wisps no longer white. Everything is washed with the vibrant colours of a coral reef, reds and oranges casting a mysterious, bright light across them both, dancing in Sorey's eyes like all the kinds of knowledge he probably holds inside of him just waiting to be taught. It fills Mikleo with excitement, and it isn't long before he speaks up once again.

                 "I have so many questions."

                 Another moment of silence passes.

                 "Me too."

                 Neither has the courage to start asking first, so Mikleo gathers his wits about him. "There's a thing... you had it one of the first times I met you. It's cylindrical and breaks off into three sections. I'd seen it once before you found it. What is that?"

                 Sorey looks thoughtful for a second. "Oh, I think I know what you're talking about! Hang on a sec." He disappears from the edge and Mikleo waits, patiently, for his return. When he comes back to the edge, he's holding the exact object Mikleo was thinking of.

                 "Yes! That one. What is that?"

                Sorey smiles. "It's called a candelabra! We don't use them anymore, but in the past they were used to hold candles. Since it holds three, it gave off more light than a single candle would."

                 Mikleo's eyes are wide as the moon, and he eats this up completely. "Candles?"

                 "Oh, um," Sorey looks sheepish now, but he explains earnestly. "They're made of wax, and you light them on fire to give off light. We used to use them to see at night."

                 Mikleo can't help but grin. "Wax? Fire?"

                 Sorey leans over the edge, mouth hanging open just for a split second, before he laughs and leans a hand on his chin. "Okay, but now you have to answer some of my questions first!"

 

                 Mikleo thinks they're going to have a lot to talk about, for a very, very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> ok but the sad part I started setting it up like a longfic because in my head there's a potential whole second part of the story about how mikleo's circlet is made of metal even though mermaid society doesn't have metal and it's because muse used to be a human or like maybe she just fell in love with a mermaid dude EITHER WAY and her brother michael is out there and knows about mermaids and thinks they're Demons who took his sister away from him (why does this sound like mithos) and like Captures mikleo I DONT KNOW OKAY IM NEVER EVER GOING TO WRITE THAT.... IM TRASHY BUT IDK IF I HAVE THE GUTS TO DO THAT I'M NOT STRONG LIKE MANY OTHERS............ I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH
> 
> honestly tho I feel like this needed a lot more After where I cut it off soooo hreruiewrsdf We'll See
> 
> Written for the lovely @epikleo on twitter!!!


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